Sweet, Bid Me Hold My Tongue
-Shakespeare’s Troilus and Cressida
Troilus and Cressida takes place against the backdrop of the seventh year of the Trojan War and follows several of the complex relationships therein. The Trojan prince Troilus falls in love with Cressida, the daughter of a Trojan priest who has defected to the Greek side. Troilus engages her voyeuristic Uncle Pandarus to arrange a meeting with her. However, Cressida pretends indifference, thinking that doing so keeps Troilus's interest active.
As demands for a duel fly between camps, Pandarus has arranged a lovers' meeting between the two. Troilus seduces Cressida, and the two exchange tokens of their vows of eternal love and fidelity. Unfortunately, their plan to be together crumbles when Cressida's father, the traitor Calchus, arranges for an exchange of a Trojan prisoner-of-war for Cressida.
As the duel ends in a draw, and the two sides convene in a friendly feast, Troilus asks the Greek Ulysses to lead him to the tent where Cressida is now confined, and there he is deeply mortified to watch from his hiding place as Cressida betrays him and is seduced by Diomedes—Cressida even giving to her new lover the token which Troilus had given her earlier.
This week Mary Greener joins the Monologue Project performing Cressida from Act III Scene 2. This speech is the moment in their meeting when, although Cressida has been playing coy, she confides in Troilus that she has liked him all along.
Mary Greener as Cressida in Troilus and Cressida:
THE MONOLOGUE: TROILUS AND CRESSIDA, ACT III SCENE 2, CRESSIDA BY MARY GREENER
“Hard to seem won: but I was won, my lord,
With the first glance that ever--pardon me--
If I confess much, you will play the tyrant.
I love you now; but not, till now, so much
But I might master it: in faith, I lie;
My thoughts were like unbridled children, grown
Too headstrong for their mother. See, we fools!
Why have I blabb'd? who shall be true to us,
When we are so unsecret to ourselves?
But, though I loved you well, I woo'd you not;
And yet, good faith, I wish'd myself a man,
Or that we women had men's privilege
Of speaking first. Sweet, bid me hold my tongue,
For in this rapture I shall surely speak
The thing I shall repent. See, see, your silence,
Cunning in dumbness, from my weakness draws
My very soul of counsel! stop my mouth.”
MORE ABOUT THE MONOLOGUE PROJECT
Our goal of Shakespeare from the Ground’s Monologue Project is to collect a library of Shakespearean monologues to share with our community for virtual entertainment while we are still socially distanced. You don’t need to be a professional actor to participate. If you’re inspired and ready to record, great! If you need help selecting your Shakespeare Monologue or getting it recorded, reach out and we’ll help you get the ball rolling. Are you ready to take to the boards once again…virtually?